Arizona's Top-Ranked Italian Inspired Pizzeria Is Worth The Trip To Phoenix On Its Own

Arizona may not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking of the best pizza in the country, but Phoenix is home to a pizzeria so good it'll make you feel like you're in a back alley of Naples instead of in the middle of the Sonoran desert. In fact, Pizzeria Bianco was named one of Robb Report's best 250 restaurants in the United States in the 21st century. Thanks to its combination of top-quality ingredients and passion for pizza, it has become a pilgrimage spot for all those who love this most ingenious of human creations.

Perhaps it's no surprise, as its chef and owner, Chris Bianco, was once called the best pizza maker in America by Eater. Serious Eats founder Ed Levine has repeatedly named Pizzeria Bianco the best in the U.S., and Vogue's Jeffrey Steingarten once said this was the best pizza in the world (a title that Italy recently gave to an old-school gem in New York City). Bianco even won the James Beard Award for Best Chef (Southwest) in 2003, the first pizza maker to ever do so.

It all began with a trip to Italy when Bronx-raised Bianco was 13, which, in a way, ended up kickstarting the entire artisanal pizza movement in the U.S. Speaking to Tasting Table, Bianco described this trip to Italy, highlighting the way it transformed his view of food and what goes into making it, saying, "It was about your ability to recognize what was already great and [if] you could serve it to its greatest and highest good." This is certainly clear in the dishes at Pizzeria Bianco, which first began in the back of a grocery store in 1988 before moving to its current location in 1997.

It's all about the ingredients at Pizzeria Bianco, which you can taste in the dishes that use Chef Bianco's custom-grown tomatoes (known as Bianco DiNapoli) and handmade mozzarella. The menu includes the six staple pies that Bianco first offered when he opened the restaurant. There are classics like a margherita and white pizza, as well as specialties like the Wiseguy with wood-roasted onion, house-smoked mozzarella, and fennel sausage. Don't sleep on the popular Rosa with red onion, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Arizona pistachios, and rosemary, a local twist on a sesame and cheese focaccia that Bianco once had in Italy.

You can enjoy the fresh flavors of Pizzeria Bianco at several locations, most of which are in Phoenix, which is not "the pizza capital of the world" just yet, but is certainly making a run at it. There are official Pizzeria Bianco restaurants at Heritage Square downtown and at the Town & Country, both of which serve pizza along with other Italian classics. There's also Pane Bianco, a more casual and low-key pizza and sandwich spot where you can sit down or get something to go. Bianco's pizza empire has expanded to California, too, so Angelinos can also rejoice and get their 'za on at the locations in downtown LA.

The Heritage Square location is first-come, first-served, and, according to Yelp reviews, you can expect to wait an hour or two, especially at peak times. Note that it does not offer takeout and is open Monday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Town & Country restaurant — which was actually the original location of the first Pizzeria Bianco before it moved to Heritage Square — does accept limited reservations for lunch and dinner, and it's open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.